Pipe fitting tool



Feb. 6, 1951 c. SHOBE 2,540,553

PIPE FITTING TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 23 1947 INVENTOR. ChesterL. 8/7066 Feb. 6, 1951 c. 1.. SHOBE 2,540,553

PIPE FITTING 'IQOL File'd May 25, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 grwa/wfo Chester5/7066 Patented Feb. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES PATSESNT OFFICE .PIPE FITTINGTOOL Chester IL. 'Shobe, GreatBiend, yKans. Application May 23, 1947,Serial No. 750,075

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in pipe fitting tools, and moreparticularly to improved means for operating pipe wrenches to tightenpipe fittings or to loosen 'stuck or rusted fittings where heavypressure on the wrenches is required.

It is among the Objects of the invention to provide improved pipe wrenchoperating means including a simple and effective [jack mechanism whichcan be quickly and easflyat'tached to the handles of oppositely arrangedpipe wrenches and operated with a small amount of manual effort to applya heavy forceto relatively rotate the two wrenches in oppositedirections, to provide such pipe wrench operating'm'eansof simple, 1

durable, and economical construction, and to provide improved means forholding a pipe wrench in operativeposition on a pipe while the wrenchoperating means is being connected thereto.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from aconsideration-of the iollowing description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Figure '1 is an elevational view of a pairof oppositely arranged pipewrenches with a wrench-- operating-jack and a wrench-retaining clampillustrative of the invention operatively applied thereto.

Figure 2 is an operating jack shown =in Eigure .1, looking at theopposite side of .the jack .from that shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional 'v-iew o'f the jack on the line3--3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view "on the line 4- 4 of Figure 1;and

Figure .5 is a transverse sectionalview on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

With continued reference to the drawings, a pair of pipe wrenches l0 andI l are'shown opera-- tively engaged with pipe elements 12 andl3,'respectively, and in order to impart relative rotation to these pipeelements for the purpose of tightening or loosening :a pipe joint.Relative rotation in either "direction can be imparted to the twothreadedly united pipe elements by changing the relative position :of"the two wrenches.

.-As the two pipe wrenches are conventional wrenchesrof the Stillsontype, a detailed description thereof is :not considered necessary torthe purposes of the present disclosure.

Where the pipe'elements'areof large diameter, where a particularly tightjoint is required, =or

elevational viewof the wrenchwhereused pipes are :being disconnected andthe joints are rusted or 'are otherwise adhered together, very heavypressure on the wrench'handles is'required to impart relative rotationto the pipe elements. It is not only extremely fatiguing for apipe-:fitter to have to exert such heavy pressure on the wrenches atfrequent intervals during a days work, but it is frequently extremelyinconvenient-or "even impossible to manually apply the necessarypressure directly to the wrench handles, as the pipe fittings may be ina narrow or restricted space-'or at-such an altitude that they must 'bereached from a ladder.

The invention provides a simple and easilyattached jack deviice,generally indicated at [4, forapplying the'necessary pressure to'thewrench handles with a very small amount of manual force and effort.

The improved wrench-operating jack device comprises an elongated,preferably cylindrical, jackshaft 15,-pre'ferably "formed of hardmaterial such :as a suitable alloy steel.

.A wrench-handle engaging clamp 1'6 is secured to one end of the shaftI5 by suitable meanssuch as azthrough pin or screw l 'l, extendingthrough the end of :the shaft .and through a cylindrical. sleeve portion1l8,of lthe clamp. Afixed 'jaw I9 is rotatably mounted on one side ofthe sleeve portion 18 within an :L-shaped integral bracket 291throughwhich is threaded :a screw shaft 2! carrying .a movable jaw 22 on theinner end thereof, and provided at its outer end with a cross-pin 23 forrm'anually rotating the shaft. With the jaws sufiiciently separated theclamp ispositioned'so that the end portion :of a'wrench handle:orthehandle'of anyiother tool with which the jack is tused, .liesbetween the jaws l9 and 22, and the screw shaftis lthenxturned inwardlyby the 1cross-pin'23 .to clamp the -wrench handle between the jaws :in:an "obvious manner.

A hollow body '24, preferably of cylindrical shape, isslidably mountedupon the shaft b,! means of apertured end bosses 25 and 26, the openingsthrough which have a :close sliding fit with the shaft. Movement of thebody 24 .0111 wardly of the shaftii'may -be limited by anabutmentcomprising .a transverse 'pin 21 extending through the outer end'portion:of the shaft.

.A wrench handle clamp :28 is secured :to the inner .end portion of the"body 24 :by having an apertured lug portion 29 thereof :rotatablysurrounding the "boss 26 and secured in operative position against thecorresponding end .of the hollow body .by a nut 30 screw-threaded uponthe end of the boss "26. .A u-shaped bracket "-31 extends outwardly fromthe lug 29 and includes a fixed jaw 32 rotatably mounted on the innerleg of the bracket and a movable jaw 33 secured on the inner end of ascrew shaft 34 threaded through the outer leg portion of the bracket andprovided at its other end with a cross-pin 35, by means of which thescrew shaft is manually rotated.

The jaws 32 and 33 are operative to clamp a wrench handle between themin the same manner as the jaws i9 and 22 described above.

It will be noted that the jaws 32 and 33 are positioned at a greaterdistance from the shaft [5 than are the jaws l9 and 22 to compensate forthe misalignment of the wrench handles caused by the thickness of thejaw-end portions of the wrenches when the two wrenches are positionedside-by-side.

The hollow body 2 3 contains a washer 36 frictionally engageable withthe shaft l5, and resiliently held in a shaft-engaging position by acoil spring 3'? disposed in the hollow body and bearing against theupper removable end-closure member 38. A lever 39 extends through anopening in the wall of the hollow body 24, and is pivotally connected tothe body by a pivot pin 48. The inner end of this lever is notched andoperatively engages a rounded edge portion of the washer 36 and isprovided at its other end with a socket 4| receiving the inner end of ahandle 42 by means j of which the jack is manually operated, In theposition of parts as illustrated in Figure 3, when the handle 42 isforced downwardly, the body 24 and the body-carried wrench-handle clamp28 will be moved toward the clamp I6.

Washer 36 has a hole 38a therewith through which shaft [5 extends. Thishole is internally counterbored as indicated at 361) so that thediameter of the intermediate portion of the hole is greater than thediameter of the ends. This retards wear of the shaft-gripping edges ofthe washer and prevents the side of the hole from wearing round so thatthe washer will slip on the shaft.

The position of the hollow body on the shaft is maintained by amanually-releasable follow-up lever 43 which is provided with anaperture through which the shaft extends and with an outwardly-extendingtongue is, by means of which the lever may be raised to release the jackwhen desired. This latch-lever 43 is resiliently held in operativeposition by the spring 55, surrounding shaft |5 between washer 36 andlever 43.

While the jack has been illustrated as applied to the handles ofStillson wrenches, it may be applied to other tools such as open-endwrenches, chain tongs, lazy tongs, etc.

It has been found quite difiicult to hold a heavy bottom wrench inproper operative position on a pipe element while the wrench-operatingjack (:2 is being applied to the wrench handle and while the handle isbeing moved and the jack adjusted to make another pull on the wrenchhandle to further loosen or tighten the pipe joint and this difficultyhas been overcome by the improved clamp device illustrated in Figures 1,i, and 5.

This device comprises an elongated bar d5 of resilient material, such asspring steel, having at each end thereof an internally screw-threadedeye, as indicated at 36 and 4?. A screw shaft $8 is threaded through theeye M5, and positioned substantially perpendicular to the bar 55. Awrench-handle-engaging abutment is rotatably secured to one end of thescrew shaft, and

the upper end of the screw shaft is provided with a cross-pin 5!! bymeans of which the shaft may be manually rotated.

A screw shaft 51 is threaded through the eye 41 and is provided at itsend corresponding to the end of the screw shaft 48, to which theabutmerit 49 is attached, with an angular pressure plate 52 adapted tobear upon a pipe element between the jaws of a pipe wrench engaging theelement. A cross-pin 53 is provided at the upper end of screw shaft 5|for manually imparting rotation to the screw shaft.

A wrench-handle-receiving loop 54 is secured to the rod or bar 45intermediate its length and is positioned between the abutment 49 andthe pressure plate 52 in position to receive the handle of the wrench towhich the device is applied.

When the loop 54 is placed over the handle of a wrench and one or bothof the screw shafts 48 and 5! are screwed down, the wrench will befirmly held in operative position on the pipe element as is clearlyillustrated in Figure l.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingindicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embracedtherein.

What is claimed is:

l. A pipe wrench operating device for relatively moving the handles of apair of oppositely arranged pipe wrenches, comprising a shaft arrangedtransversely of and between the pair of said handles inwardly of andspaced from the free ends thereof, embracing means projectingtransversely of said shaft adjacent one end thereof for receiving one ofsaid handles, a, hollow closed cylindrical body arranged longitudinallyof and surrounding said shaft adjacent the other end of the latter andmounted on said shaft for rotation therearound and for sliding movementtoward and away from said one end of said shaft, a second embracingmeans positioned exteriorly of and adjacent to one end of said body androtatably carried by said body for receiving the other of said handles,a washer positioned within said body loosely circumpo-sed about saidshaft and normally frictionally engageable with said shaft, spring meansoperatively connected to said washer for holding said washer infrictional engagement with said shaft, and hand actuable meansexteriorly of and connected to said body for rocking up and downmovement about an axis transverse of said body and having one endengageable with said washer for effecting the sliding movement of saidbody toward said one end of said shaft.

2. A pipe wrench operating device for relatively moving the handles of apair of oppositely arranged pipe wrenches, comprising a shaft arrangedtransversely of and between the pair of said handles inwardly of andspaced from the free ends thereof, embracing means projectingtransversely of said shaft adjacent one end thereof for receiving one ofsaid handles, a hollow closed cylindrical body arranged longitudinallyof and surrounding said shaft adjacent the other end of the latter andmounted on said shaft for rotation therearound and for sliding movementa second embracing means positioned toward and away from said one end ofsaid shaft, exteriorly of and adjacent to one end of said body androtatably carried by said body for receiving the other of said handles,a washer positioned within said body loosely circumposed about saidshaft and normally frictionally engageable with said shaft, spring meansoperatively connected to said washer for holding said Washer infrictional engagement with said shaft, hand actuable means exteriorly ofand connected to said body for rocking up and down movement about anaxis transverse of said body and having one end engageable with saidwasher for effecting the sliding movement of said body toward said oneend of said shaft, and a latch lever circumposed about said shaft andspaced from said washer and frictionally engageable with said shaft andsaid body for holding said body in any select position of movementtoward said one end of said shaft.

3. A pipe wrench operating device for relatively moving the handles of apair of oppositely arranged pipe wrenches, comprising a shaft arrangedtransversely of and between the pair of said handles inwardly of andspaced from the free ends thereof, embracing means projectingtransversely of said shaft adjacent one end thereof for receiving one ofsaid handles, a hollow closed cylindrical body arranged longitudinallyof and surrounding said shaft adjacent the other end of the latter andmounted on said shaft for rotation therearound and for sliding movementtoward and away from said one end of said shaft, a second embracingmeans positioned exteriorly of and adjacent to one end of said body androtatably carried by said body for receiving the other of said handles,a washer positioned within said body loosely circumposed aboutsaid'shaft and normally frictionally engageable with said shaft, springmeans operatively connected to said washer for holding said washer infrictional engagement with said shaft, hand actuable means exteriorly ofand connected to said body for rocking up and down movement about anaxis transverse of said body and having one end engageable with saidwasher for effecting the sliding movement of said body toward said oneend of said shaft, a latch lever circumposed about said shaft and spacedfrom said washer and frictionally engageable with said shaft and saidbody for holding said body in any select position of movement towardsaid one end of said shaft, and a second spring means operativelyconnected to said latch lever for urging same into frictional engagementwith said shaft.

CHESTER L. SHOBE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 378,299 Finch Feb. 21, 1888443,312 Bode Dec. 23, 1890 452,237 Robinson May 12, 1891 794,945 MillerJuly 18, 1905 821,565 Wilson May 22, 1906 868,431 Groth Oct. 15, 19071,254,572 Brown Jan. 22, 1918 1,634,602 Wilson July 5, 1927 1,739,488Thayer Dec. 10, 1929 2,174,489 Groves Sept. 26, 1939 2,262,429 LuckerNov. 11, 1941

